How Fo Buy BEEF STEAKS

itJ(/¿ / How fo Buy BEEF STEAKS ^■L ^^^^^^K^^^^k. ▼ 1 ^ Al.£' A^ I 1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ficult, or impossible, to recognize in the smaller retail cuts. When the carcass is graded, a purple How it Buy shield-shaped grademark containing the letters USDA and the grade name-such as Prime, Choice, or Good—is applied with a roller-stamp. BEEF The grade shield is rolled on, in a long ribbon-like imprint, all along the length of the carcass and USDA across both shoulders. Then when the carcass is STEAKS CHOICE divided into retail cuts, one or more of the grade- marks will appear on most of these cuts. Only meat which has first passed a strict inspection for wholesomeness may be graded. So A tender, juicy steak is a mealtime favorite of you may be sure when you see the grademark millions of Americans. To make sure that your that the meat came from a healthy animal and steak will be tender and juicy, you need to know was processed in a sanitary plant. something about both buying the beef and cooking it. Many different cuts of beef are called "steaks" —and any one of these cuts can vary in quality, depending upon the kind of carcass from which it came. But all are nutritious and all can pro- Inspection for vide good eating if properly prepared. The secret lies in suiting the cooking method to the grade Wholesomeness and the cut you select. All meat processed in plants which sell their products across State lines must, under Federal About Beef Quality law, be inspected for wholesomeness. This serv- Beef varies in quality more than any other ice is another provided by USDA's Consumer and kind of meat. But you don't have to learn to Marketing Service. USDA meat inspectors also judge beef quality for yourself. USDA grades supervise the cleanliness and operating proce- are a reliable guide to meat quality-its tender- dures of meat packing plants to assure that meat ness, juiciness, and flavor. The grades are based is not contaminated or adulterated. on nationally uniform Federal standards of qual- Meat which passes the USDA inspection for ity and are applied by USDA graders. Therefore, wholesomeness is stamped with a round mark you can be sure that a USDA Choice porterhouse which bears the legend "U.S. INSP'D & P'S'D." steak, for example, will provide the same good This mark is placed only once on wholesale cuts. eating no matter where or when you buy it. So you are likely to see it only on large cuts of meat—seldom on steaks. Packaged meat foods, How Beef is Graded however, such as frozen dinners and canned Meat grading is a voluntary service provided by meats, are required to carry the inspection mark USDA's Consumer and Marketing Service to meat on the label if they are to be sold in interstate packers and others who request it and pay a fee commerce. for the service. So not all meat is graded, al- Learn to recognize both the inspection mark- though a large percentage of it is. a circle—and the grademark—a shield. Remember USDA graders, who are highly trained in meat they mean different things. The inspection mark quality, grade only whole carcasses or wholesale tells you that the meat is clean and wholesome. cuts. This is because quality differences are dif- The grademark tells you the quality of the meat. LOOK FOR THE GRADE USDA GOOD Good grade beef often Each USDA beef grade is a measure of a dis- pleases thrifty shoppers tinct level of quality. Because beef can vary so because it is somewhat much in quality, it takes eight grades to span the more lean than the higher range. The three lowest grades-USDA Utility, grades. It is relatively Cutter, and Canner— are seldom, if ever, sold as tender, but because it has retail cuts. They go mostly into ground beef or less marbling it lacks into processed meat items such as hot dogs. some of the juiciness and The grade most widely sold at retail is USDA flavor of the higher Choice. It is produced in the greatest volume and grades. Some stores sell retailers have found that this level of quality this quality of beef under pleases most of their customers. Some stores, a "house" brand name however, offer two grades-for example. Prime rather than under the and Choice or Choice and Standard-so that their USDA grade name. customers may have a choice of quality and price. Pictured below are porterhouse steaks in each USDA STANDARD of the first five grades, together with a descrip- Standard grade beef has tion of the level of quality that can be expected a high proportion of lean in each of those grades. meat and very little fat. Because it comes from young animals, beef of this grade is fairly tender. But because it lacks USDA PRIME marbling, it is mild in flavor and most cuts will Prime grade beef is the be somewhat dry unless ultimate in tenderness, prepared with moist heat. juiciness, and flavor. It has abundant marbling— USDA COMMERCIAL flecks of fat within the Commercial grade beef is lean —which enhances produced only from ma- both flavor and juiciness. ture animals-the top four Steaks of this grade are grades are restricted to the best for broiling. young animals. It has abundant marbling (com- pare it with the Prime grade above), and will USDA CHOICE have the rich, full flavor Most USDA Choice steaks characteristic of mature are good for broiling and beef. However, Commer- pan-broiling, too — they cial grade beef requires will be very tender, juicy, long, slow cooking with and flavorful. Choice moist heat to make it grade beef has slightly tender. When prepared in less marbling than Prime, this manner it can pro- but still is of very high vide delicious and eco- quality. nomical meat dishes. LOOK FOR THE CUT Regardless of their quality grade, some cuts of beef are naturally more tender than others. Cuts TENDERLOIN (FILET from the less-used muscles along the back of the MIGNON)-The most ten- animal—the rib and loin sections—will always be der of all steaks, the ten- more tender than those from the active muscles derloin has no bone and such as the shoulder (chuck), flank, and round. very little fat. Broil or The most tender cuts make up only a small pan-broil it in all grades. proportion of the beef carcass-and they are in Allow about 6 to 8 ounces greatest demand. Therefore, they command a per person. higher price than other cuts. Names given beef cuts sometimes vary from store to store and in different parts of the country. It would be impossible to list all of the varia- tions here. Moreover, the same name may mean PORTERHOUSE - Often different things in different parts of the country. considered the best steak, For example, a "Delmonico" steak is cut from the porterhouse usually the ribeye in some parts of the country, while in sells at a higher price other areas it is cut from the chuck. than other bone-in steaks. It has a generous section Chuck cuts probably get more variation in of tenderloin, which can terminology than any other. Some names be removed and served "coined" for steaks cut from the chuck and used separately as filet mignon. in various parts of the country include California, Broil or pan-broil in Western, Cheyenne, petite butter, finger, break- Prime, Choice, and Good fast, his 'n hers-and there are many more. grades. Porterhouse is a The best guide in identifying beef cuts is the good steak for special oc- standard terminology shown in the following casions—and for such pages and generally recognized throughout the events allow 12 to 16 meat industry. Many stores, fortunately, do em- ounces per person. ploy these terms in identifying the meat cuts they sell. The kind of bone in a cut also helps in identifying it. The T-bone and rib bone, for example, indicate tender cuts, while a round bone, such as T-BONE-Very similar to in the arm chuck, means a less tender cut. r the porterhouse steak, but Along with the illustrations on the following with a smaller amount of pages of the most widely sold and widely known tenderloin, the T-bone steaks are suggested cooking methods for these can be used in the same cuts in various grades and approximate amounts fashion. Broil or pan-broil you'll need to buy per serving. it in Prime, Choice, and For greatest eating satisfaction, buy any steak Good grades. For gener- you intend to broil at least one inch thick. For ous servings, allow 12 to example, if you like medium-rare steak, you'll 16 ounces per person. find it difficult to achieve this degree of "done- ness" with a thin steak. BEEF CHART ® Blade ® Pin Bone ® ® Standing Rib Roast Pot-roast or Steak Sirloin Steak Round Steak Standing Rump (D Porterhouse Steak Top Round Steak @ Arm Pot-roast or Steak ® Flat Bone ©Bottom Sirloin Steak Round Strip Loin Steak @ Sirloin Steak Tip Steak t *^ @(D Rib Eye Filet Mignon ® Eye Roast or Steak Tenderloin Steak of Round (also from Sirloin 1,2,3) (D Wedge Bone Roost or (D Stew Meat or > 0 ® Stew Meat or Sirloin Steak Steak Ground Meat ® Short Ribs Ground Meat m Heel of Round CHUCK Rll SHORT LOIN LOIN END ROUND 8 ••'Mdism^ CLUB STEAK-The club steak, like the porter- SIRLOIN-The sirloin is a large steak, which house and the T-bone, is cut from the short loin.

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